I ran 16 miles with my training group yesterday and it went surprisingly well. Unfortunately, my Garmin died at 15.70 miles! I ran that in 2:37:42 (10:03 average pace). So, I'll estimate that I finished 16 miles in 2:40ish. So, overall not too bad. I was only going to run 15, but the rest of the group wanted to run 16 so I went for it.
My splits were as follows: 9:53, 10:22, 9:37, 9:57, 10:01, 9:55, 9:47, 10:11, 10:20, 10:20, 10:04, 10:17, 9:56, 9:55, 10:10 and 9:53.
I felt shockingly good toward the tail end of the run so I went for 16 instead of 15. My legs felt pretty good. I had some ITB pain in both knees during the run, but nothing super painful. I've also been experiencing some slight pain in my right heel. I hope it's not my Achilles. I think I will call NovaCare's injury hotline to get it assessed. I managed to push it to week 11 so that's good I guess.
I decided not to pursue therapy at the clinic by home for a variety of reasons that I won't go into detail in this post. Plus, NovaCare is the trusted PT of CARA's training program so that's another plus. I've been seen there before and I liked it.
Unfortunately, I still have been bad about getting my long weekly run done. The runs are only going to get longer as well so this worries me quite a bit. I will have to plan out my week and try my best to get it done. I am worried about the heat that's supposed to return to the area this week. I may have to get the runs done on the dreadmill, which isn't preferred, but at least I'm getting in done.
In other news, I'm starting to feel somewhat down about my training. I'm more tired than usual and sometimes I get cranky and just want to stop it entirely and enjoy the rest of my summer. But, it's not to this point yet. Hopefully it won't get there.
Also, I'm beginning to wonder whether my desire to break my time goal is even possible and even if it is realistic for me to think I can finish it in that time. My pace group leader thinks that it is, but that it depends on the weather. He also mentioned that I may want to train more, which definitely is true. He's an advocate for winter training and hill work... none of which I do. This makes me wonder if I should simply let go of that time goal and just hope for improvement. Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself to meet my time goal. Is it really realistic for me to cut my time by almost 20 minutes?
Hope you're training is going well and that your head is in a better place then mine! How do you set your goals so you make sure they are realistic? Am I being overly ambitious?
